Sleep is underrated!

My wise and eloquent aunt, who I takes very good care of herself both physically and emotionally, told me today that she usually gets about 5-6 hours of sleep a night. This flabbergasted me. If I get less than 7 several nights in a row, I get sick. Do you get this little of sleep? If so…here’s an amazing reason from Huffington Post to get more.

“Being short on sleep affects the hormones that regulate appetite, stimulating hormones that signal hunger and suppressing those that signal feelings of satiety, or fullness. When we're low on sleep, we burn fewer calories during our waking -- and our sleeping -- hours. Lack of sleep also compromises judgment and willpower, leaving us more vulnerable to making poor food choices and to overeating. Making sleep a priority protects against these weight-gain risks.

A new study suggests that sleep is even more powerful than we knew, and has the capacity to influence weight gain at the genetic level. Researchers from the University of Washington Medicine Sleep Center have discovered that the amount of time we sleep -- our sleep duration -- can affect how active a role our genes play in our weight.”

More info on their research…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/sleep-weight_b_1559785.html?ref=healthy-living